Gawker could make a comeback soon

A year after Univision bought the sister websites of the snarky gossip blog for $135 million, the bankruptcy estate is quietly shopping Gawker.com around to potential buyers.

When Gawker Media Group — the umbrella company holding sites like Jezebel and Deadspin — was auctioned off in August 2016, none of the bidders wanted Gawker.com because they considered it a toxic asset.

That spring, legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan won a $140 million verdict against Gawker for publishing his unauthorized sex tape. Gawker and its founder, Nick Denton, filed for bankruptcy shortly after the record-setting verdict.

A brochure from consulting firm Dacarba — which is handling the sale — touts an audience of 12 million viewers, 2 million social media followers and $6.5 million in revenue in 2015. William Holden, managing partner at Dacarba, said he expects a floor bid in the next six to eight weeks.

There’s no asking price for the site, but one expert said it could fetch between $5 million and $10 million.

“You really get — not pennies on the dollar — but it can be 10 to 20 percent of the going concern value,” said valuation expert Jeff Anderson, noting that the site was worth around $100 million prior to the Hogan verdict.

Forty-five percent of any sale proceeds will go to Hogan and the other 55 percent to equity owners including Denton.

Anderson said Gawker.com still has a “taint” because of the Hogan case.

And no new content can be posted on the site until March 9, 2018, due to a non-compete agreement with Univision.

“Readers get used to going to a certain site and as soon as they stop doing that, they find something else to fill the void. It’s hard to get that traffic back,” Anderson said.